If ever you wondered What is sound Christian doctrine? I invite you through this post to know the possible teachings that it can offer in Christianity and ask the Holy Spirit to instruct us through this study
What is sound doctrine?
The word doctrine means to teach or instruct, that is, it is the act or effect of teaching something.
In the gospel, sound doctrine is to teach what the Word of God tells us without adulterating it or changing it, always extolling our Lord Jesus Christ. It is also called the apostles' doctrine.
Talking about Sound Doctrine has always been a necessity, let us remember that Paul told the Corinthian Church that he had gone to them first to preach Christ. Because in this church they were presenting many problems and they were giving false teachings.
He warns the Galatians not to return to the works of the Law. He tells the Colossian church not to let themselves be carried away by vain philosophies. And to his spiritual son and disciple Timothy he wrote about the need to keep sound doctrine.
Basic doctrines by which the church is founded
So what are the basic doctrines by which the Christian Church is founded?
- The Bible as authoritative and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
- We believe and recognize that there is one true God, our creator, merciful, loving Father, revealed in three persons.
- The deity of Jesus Christ, born by the power of the Holy Spirit, lived in this world without sin, was crucified for our sins, was resurrected and is alive.
- The Sin of man who was created good and upright, but by his own choice, sinned, which brought him spiritual death.
- The Salvation of man through the blood of Jesus Christ.
- Sanctification, of man by separating from his sinful way to dedicate himself to God.
- Baptism in Water and the Holy Supper as mandated by the Lord.
- Baptism in the Spirit, the power promised to believers (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4).
- Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 1-4).
- The Church as the body of Christ, made up of believers for the purpose of evangelizing.
- The Ministries of the Church to build and work for the work of God.
- Divine healing.
- The rapture of the Church, Christ is coming for his Church.
- The Millennial Kingdom, the Lord will come to rule the earth.
- The Final Judgment, each person will account for their actions and pay for their disobedience.
- The divine promise of a new heaven and a new earth.
In the 2nd letter to Timothy Paul tells him:
"Keep the form of the healthy words that you heard from me, in faith and love that is in Christ Jesus."
(2 Timothy 1:13)
And later he tells him that the Bible is a reliable source of knowledge and wisdom because it is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). Also in the letter to Titus he writes that he should speak only what is in accordance with sound doctrine (Titus 2: 1). His teachings had to be in accordance with the scriptures.
Do you also want to know about Christian values? You can see it in the following link: What are Christian values?
Why is sound doctrine important?
Mainly, because the basic message of our faith is that Christ died for our sins, rising on the third day, thus defeating death and bringing salvation to sinners. If we manage to change that message, we will no longer be giving the center to Jesus Christ.
When the apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians telling them that there is no other gospel. Paul was surprised that the Galatians were following a different gospel, meaning that they were distorting or changing the truth about Christ. It is so important that whoever changes the message of salvation will become cursed or anathema.
Biblical teachings must be pure and true, our duty is to deliver the message without changing a word.
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will bring on him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the book of life, and from the holy city and from the things that are written in this book.”
(Revelation 22:18-19).
To speak of sound doctrine it is necessary to study or scrutinize the word of God, mediate in His Word and let the Holy Spirit teach us and not the wisdom of man.
The Word of God transforms men
When we teach the Sound Doctrine, the Holy Spirit ministers in the conscience and in the hearts of men, transforming their way of thinking, and bringing freedom to their lives. What we call Regeneration in the gospel occurs, that is, when touched by the Holy Spirit we are born again, and we are declared children of God.
When sound doctrine is adulterated, this regeneration process does not happen in man, because they are the sound words of the Lord's doctrine. What cleanses the mind of the lies that the enemy and the world continually sends to distort the truth, is the word that gives you spiritual discernment to make decisions and change the old way of acting.
Charles H. Spurgeon famous English Christian pastor, writer and thinker who developed his ministry in much of the nineteenth century. He expressed that if a person wants to know God, perceive his power and know the purpose before it happens, he can only discover it through his Word.
That is to say that everything is centered on the Word of God, it is the one that guides us in order to have discernment and distinguish a false teaching or false doctrine from a sound doctrine.
If you want to know how you can be a good servant or a good leader, we recommend you read this post entitled Characteristics of a Christian Leader or Servant
It is necessary for a student of the Word of God and a believer in Christ to be careful when teaching or studying what the Word of God says, since today different theological currents continually arise that distort the true teaching of God, falling into false doctrine, and leading believers astray.
The restoration process of a person is always directed by the Holy Spirit, since he alone will not be able to achieve it. However, it is necessary to have a firm decision to obey what the Word of the Lord says, trusting in his promises, for this reason it is important to keep the healthy Doctrine.
The Christian must beware of false prophets
The Holy Spirit guards the Sound doctrine
Going back to 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul emphasizes our responsibility to retain and keep sound doctrine, and even says not to be ashamed to speak of Jesus Christ. Pablo had suffered afflictions when he wrote that letter, he was imprisoned because of the gospel and he did not care to be behind bars, because he knew in whom he had believed and trusted.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us through the life of Paul, if by speaking of the gospel keeping the sound doctrine we suffer afflictions, welcome! But we must not change the truth of the gospel, to please men.
“Hold fast to the pattern of sound teaching that you learned from me, a pattern formed by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, carefully guard the precious truth entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:13-14 NLT version
The Word of God has Power, and it is the Holy Spirit who illuminates the minds of men to make us understand the truths of the scriptures, He is the one who warns us of the dangers or traps of the enemy. In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who applies the word to our lives and convicts us of sin, thus cleansing our minds and hearts.
The Holy Spirit gives us the words to defend the gospel when necessary, gives us grace, discernment, plays an important role in helping us maintain sound doctrine.
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Act 1: 8
If you want to deepen the study of the Word of God, we invite you to read the following links Who is the author of the Bible? y How many books of the Reina Valera 1.960 Bible are there?
Now, after explaining what sound doctrine is, we want to complement this message with this short message in the following video.